Morale visit to Vevut Squad
by daennika
Summary: A sabotage mission turns bad for Republic Commandos. Bardan Jusik checks on his troops when he has to face a possible diplomatic catastrophe. Anakin and Ahsoka offer their help... How will Jusik deal with the Padawan? Don't read if you love Anakin!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars. I totally invented the names of Vevut Squad members besides Dec, simply because we never get to know the others in canon sources. Planet Gasarro is also something I created for the purpose of this fan fiction.

Author's note: I've been pacing myself to write this kind of story long ago, when I read _True Colors_ by Karen Traviss where we find out more about Bardan Jusik as a Jedi and soon to become Mandalorian. What we don't clearly know is his role in the Grand Army. Kal Skirata knows that he is a general who commands a whole commando group, five hundred men that need objectives, briefing and support. Rav Bralor's squads (Vevut among them) are the ones he has to check on in this case. I hope you'll find this story entertaining.

* * *

**Morale visit to Vevut Squad  
**_**or how Bard'ika isn't just a mando fanboy**_

**Landing area 76B, Bogg V, Bogden system  
473 days after Geonosis**

He stepped off the _Aay'han_ with a hint of bitterness from lingering thoughts about Etain's condition, Kal and the hunt for Ko Sai. Being kept out of the loop by Kal had stung, deeper than he'd expected, and now that everything was relatively in the open he could to deal with it the best he could.

Jusik climbed into his interceptor and ran the engines, starting the navicomputer to calculate the route to Gasarro. According to his estimations Vevut squad was operating under radar there, a mission that could be a challenge even for Delta. He checked his mission journal on the console display and selected their assignment when an incoming message from Rav Bralor popped up.

_Tell Zey that if he needs me he can bring his _jetii shebs_ over to Gasarro and help my boys out of the _osik_ he sent them in._

The Delta-7 interceptor reached Bogden space as he sent his reply message:

_Copy that, Sergeant. Tell Vevut that I'm on my way._

The hyperspace route calculation stopped at a hundred percent completion. Being in control of his own responsibilities within the GAR was a liberating feeling. His trust issues with _Kal'buir_ were swept away as stars shot white streaks around the canopy.

**Northern hemisphere, underground of the CIS compound, Gasarro**

Dec threw the shovel at his squad mate, Six, to continue digging while he sat against the dirt wall of the tunnel. He resisted the temptation to remove his helmet. Six shoveled some dirt over his shoulder, showering him with a rain of solid rubble.

"Remind me why we're not making the natives do this for us," he complained. "They have the century-old technology, we have _these_."

He clutched angrily at the durasteel tool, portable, compact, solid, GAR issued shovel. But it was small.

"Look, no one is volunteering to work their communication skills again. If we had been educated on Gasarrian diplomacy we'd have brought a Jedi along."

Six whacked brutally at something tough.

"A Jedi would have moved the ground under the building," he grunted. "With a nod."

Dec had his HUD full of databank links to intel articles that could remotely solve their troubles. In vain. Gasarrians were semi-insectoid, humanoid beings that populated the planet below the surface. They had entire cities and layers of infrastructure dug underground . Sadly they weren't very outgoing. The first time he and his squad made acquaintance with them was through the narrow opening of a pit hole in which they had been thrown into. These natives looked like big rodents standing on their hind legs, with wide, intelligent eyes and omnivorous habits. They understood and spoke Basic, but as he later learned, that didn't make them any more cooperating.

"I think I hit a hard spot."

"Want me to take over?"

"No, you should try to get Splat and Cod out of detention."

They were the Gasarrians' insurance that they wouldn't gang up on them. Contact with the detainees had been lost when the natives figured out they could talk to eachother within their private link. The only reason they could keep the helmets on was for breathing purposes when working the tunnels.

Dec turned his gaze to the two guards looking at them with ever focused red pupils. Their weapons looked like large snail shells that shot bright energy bolts. They seemed to have unlimited ammo, too.

"Maybe another time. Keep digging or they'll think we're scheming."

"We could die of old age in here. Die of old age and halfway into this _haran_. We'd be digging our own grave--"

The comms icon flashed in Dec's interface and he blinked towards it instantaneously.

_Hang in there, _ad'ike_. You got Jedi help coming your way. Bralor out._

"It's good to hear from _Rav'buir _again," he told Six, cheerful again after two weeks. "Looks like your wishes are coming true."

He turned towards him, holding his shovel in a victorious pose.

"Roger that, _ner vod_. Can't wait, can't wait, can't wait!"

The guards snapped to attack position, squeezing their snail-guns nervously.

Dec switched to speaker channel. "Easy now, he was just telling me that he needed to urinate."

They flared their nostrils and their whiskers shivered slightly. One of them, if Dec remembered right his name was Terekalu, directed a clawed finger towards the other end of the tunnel.

"Do it there."

"Woah, no - wait." Six shook his helmet side to side. "Now that I'm thinking about it, I also need to defecate. And I haven't had my fibers lately."

They stood confused for a moment, and Terekalu complied. The good thing about wearing helmets was, among a lot of other benefits, that people couldn't tell if you lied or told the truth. Six followed the irritated guard down the underground labyrinth, leaving Dec to continue digging.

"So, what do I do when he realizes that nothing's coming out?"

"_Shab_, make an effort!"

"Well, Sarge, forcefully squeezing stool out was never part of our training. Do you think we should send a suggestion to the Kaminoan idea box?"

He turned around to take a sneak peek at Pasikalu, the other guard.

"I think we could afford a slight diplomatic disruption for this time."

"Alright, give me your signal."

"On three. One, two…"

Six managed to yelp loud enough to be heard by Pasikalu and Dec jumped him. Gasarrians were smaller than the smallest Bothans and their strongest warriors couldn't stand a chance against a clone. Something snapped when he gagged the guard with his gauntlet and Pasikalu fell limp to the ground, his head turned in an awkward angle.

"Why didn't we think of this before?" Six said, sounding like he was running.

"Probably because we wanted to respect these people's neutrality."

"Don't give me that political _osik_…"

Six reappeared in the tunnel, with Terekalu slumped over his right shoulder and Splat and Cod were in his trail.

"_Oya!_" Dec cheered.

"You don't say," agreed Cod, equipping his helmet, DC-17 in hand.

Splat went over to Pasikalu's inert body to take his snail-gun. He had the better medic skills in the squad: he could diagnose _dead_ like anything. "So, are we expecting the underground cavalry?"

There was a low rumbling sound that predicted no good. Dec cursed between his teeth, raising the retrieved Deece that Cod gave him, and prepared to fire at anything furry or whiskery coming their way.

Something poked his shoulder plate, then another on his helmet. Then it was a shower of dirt.

"Six, _ner vod_, you can stop now--"

_Get out of there!_

Wherever that voice came from, he didn't feel like disapproving.

They all scattered away from the apparent cave-in, finding themselves flat on the ground, covered in dust as the roof was collapsing. The funny thing was - and he had to find it funny because he thought stuff were going to fall on him - that the roof was collapsing _upwards_. Back on his feet he carefully approached the opening over their heads, blaster first. Daylight appeared into the underground.

A length of durasteel cable fell down, hanging from somewhere up the perfectly circular drilling. Looking up what seemed like twenty meters of soil his vision was blinded by the white brightness of the sky.

Gasarro was a rock, literally. There was nothing but dirt and sand on it's surface because of its unstable dying star that irradiated all living things. And since it was inhospitable, all of its natural underground resources were available to whoever dared settling there.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" said the same voice from the other end of the well. "Grab the line!"

Dec let his brothers go first, being the squad leader it was his responsibility to make sure that everyone was accounted for during an extraction. After Six got lifted up the tunnel, he got the line back and started climbing. The last few meters were painful to pull through with the extra weight of his Katarn armor but someone pulled the line up to the surface. He blissfully stretched his back, glad to be able to stand up straight again and turned to his squad: all four of them looked more brown than white, and their golden markings and sigils were masked by the rust. There were patches of fresh soil scattered all around them on the dry whitened surface. He thought _explosives_ but even that would provoke a cave-in.

Then facing their savior, Dec froze in confusion, as they all did. No uniform, no robes. And that set of green _beskar_ was of the wrong color to be that of _Rav'buir_.

The man stared them back through his black T-shaped visor.

"_Thanks_ would be a good start," he said through his helmet speaker.

Dec recognized that voice. "General Jusik?"

"Good guess, _ner vod_."

"I like your style, General," Six said, nodding several times in approval.

So the Jedi had finally gone full-out on the _mando_ thing. Dec found it unsettling: he associated the sight of _beskar'gam_ with the highest authority he could think of. And no, that wasn't the Chancellor, but his training sergeant. When a _Cuy'val Dar _showed up with full armor and his _buy'ce_ on it generally meant serious business. It really did not suit a Jedi.

Jusik lead them towards the nearest natural shading spot, a canyon at approximately two clicks away from the bunker they had been digging to.

"Looks like you got yourselves quite a situation," the young general said as they walked in line, out of habit.

"The mission got compromised by the locals," Dec replied, switching to report mode. "They caught us on their grounds and we failed to obtain their cooperation so they kept us in custody. They're extremely paranoid."

"They didn't kill us, though," added Cod. "That makes them stupid as well."

The Jedi - Dec needed to remind himself that - turned his visor towards them.

"Any signs of Sep leaders?"

"No wet traffic so far." Dec assumed that Jusik knew clone jargon when it came to designating living beings as opposed to droids. He was a SpecOps Commander after all. "This system is completely on its own if you regard Battle Droids as tools rather than personnel."

"Aren't the locals upset that their world is being exploited?"

"Probably," answered Six. "Though they blame us for _provoking_ the Seps to go to war."

Splat cleared his throat. "I think they don't want the shield to go down otherwise we could just bomb the surface and their hidden cities would be destroyed. Nobody would hear them screaming."

"Very incentive. What's your name?"

"Um… Splat, sir."

Jusik paused. "What kind of name is that?"

Dec laughed. "Funny thing with a Geonosian… It was the last sound he heard before passing out."

"I fell down three stories and landed on a bug."

Jusik unrestrainedly guffawed, seeming inexplicably cheerful all of the sudden, for a general sent to a back-end part of the galaxy just to help them. They couldn't even remove their helmets because of the sunrays but that didn't seem to bother him - the man _liked_ it.

They made camp in the shade of a shallow cave in the canyon. Dec's muscles were complaining about the walk and the dehydration. He pulled his bucket off and immediately regretted it; the thin, hot air of Gasarro was more suffocating than his filtered, climate-controlled suit. He could tap into his air supply if things got unbearable but thought better of it.

The general had brought an additional pack slung around his shoulder with water and food rations. Dec gratefully greeted him hand-to-elbow, the _mando_ style. Providing sustenance for new friends was one important aspect of Mandalorian hospitality that Sergeant Bralor had taught them, and refusing that was considered an insult.

"We'll need the locals' help to get to this last shield generator," Six said, biting in a compact protein biscuit. "Their drilling machines could take care of the entrance issue in a few hours."

Jusik removed his helmet, brushing back greasy blond hair that needed a dramatic cut. "What kind of society do they have?" he asked. "GAR Intel has failed me once again."

"Doesn't it always," Splat grinned. He scratched dry dirt from his left shoulder plate to make his golden mythosaur skull appear.

"It's a matriarchal structure," Dec answered, having read all of the sociologic articles from his bank. "Females do the decision-making as they are in smaller numbers and the males take care of the rest."

"So in other words," Jusik said, taking a sip of water, "we're _shabbed_."

"Being all male, and identical didn't help us at all," said Cod. "They probably kept us alive because we're like droids to them."

"Or," Six continued, "they want to cut us to pieces, see how identical we _really_ are."

"Alright, I get it. But how is their technology?"

"It's weird," Splat said and showed him the snail-gun. "Looks organic, yet it fires some sort of laser."

Jusik inspected the weapon with a curious expression, like a kid getting a new toy for his birthday. He got up and aimed towards a mound of rocks outside the cave. The blast was almost melodious due to the curled shape of the barrel, and there were none of the rocks left to be seen, just a pile of dark smoke. He looked at the smoking muzzle and blew wind into it, recreating part of the shooting melody.

"Crazy thing," commented Six. "And it never runs out of ammo."

"I guess you should hang on to it then." He tossed it back to Splat and stood, hands on hips for a thoughtful moment. "This is worse than I thought."

"No _osik_," Cod said. "Unless you could just do what you did with your Force trick down there, and it's a walk in the sandbox."

He scratched his hairy chin. "That's not what I meant." Picking up his helmet he looked around at them. "How desperate would it sound to ask Sergeant Bralor to come over?"

Dec looked perplexed at him. It sounded like a last resort suggestion for a task they weren't prepared for. But in the end, Republic Commandos had to be prepared for anything.

"She would be pissed," he answered. "She's in the Talus sector with another company. What's the plan, General?"

"We need a female ambassador."

He equipped his helmet and went silent, sheltered in the soundproofing of his _buy'ce_ while he conversed with the chain of command. Dec finished eating his ration and took a long drink of water. Minutes later, Jusik took his helmet off and held it contemplatively before lifting his blue eyes from it. Something had gone wrong or maybe he was just annoyed.

"We got reinforcements coming," he said quietly.

"You say that like it's a bad thing," remarked Six.

He sat down and bit on his protbar, munching carelessly. "Well it _could_ be worse… At least they have a few troopers with them."

"They?"

"Skywalker and his Padawan."

"Which is the female one?"

Jusik squinted out to the horizon. "The Padawan."

They all kept silent for a confused moment of mixed impatience and irritation. Dec thought that the odds of completing the operation were low, but now they seemed to be back to where they started.

"Ugh."


	2. Chapter 2

**Northern hemisphere canyon, Gasarro**

The vessel landed in the middle of the canyon. It was nightfall: the sun's deadly radiating rays gave the sky varying levels of green and purple while going darker. Jusik climbed down from his observation point on top of a cliff and something cracked under his boot: fragments of a hard black shell and yellow slime stuck to his sole as he sensed its Force essence melt away. He scraped the remains of the bug off against a rock and resumed walking down into the canyon.

"It's safe to uncover now," he heard a clone say in the comms, probably Six. "But look out for eye-eating flies."

"Copy that," Jusik replied.

"And don't forget the ones that use the ear canal as a nest," added another, he wasn't familiar with all their names and voices yet. "And the nostrils…"

A white-clad clone trooper stepped out of the unmarked light freighter, his armor plates painted with blue stripes. Then a tall human walked down the ramp, followed by an orange-skinned female Togruta and two more clone troopers.

"Dec, with me," Jusik said. "The rest of you watch your sectors."

"You think we might get ambushed, sir?" that was Splat, he used an innocent and naïve tone sometimes.

"It's not impossible."

"So you _do_ think we'll get trouble out here?"

He looked up to the cliffs, where Splat, Six and at the end of the valley Cod were keeping an eye out for Separatist activities. The sky was nearly black and stars sparkled brightly. He caught movement in the corner of his eye and realized it was another bug.

"I don't _know_, Splat."

"Oh, apologies, sir. I thought you had picked up something on your Force scanner."

The two Jedi stood patiently next to their ship. Jusik waited for Dec as he jogged up to him, white and gold armor clanking, and proceeded to meet their _reinforcements_.

The Human - Skywalker - was wearing custom chest armor on top of his robes while Tano, the Togruta, was poorly dressed for the field. He didn't know what to make of that. They stood speechless as they gazed each other in mild confusion for a moment.

"I hope you brought sunscreen," he said to break the ice. "Or a good hat…"

"Strange costume," Skywalker said, folding his arms. "I was told that you were some kind of special, General Jusik."

Ahsoka Tano squinted her almond-shaped eyes as if trying to look through his visor. Obviously they could detect his Force-sensitivity but somehow, that sense did not get them passed his appearance. He retained a sigh and unclipped his helmet to reveal his face and forced a smile.

"I like dressing up."

The clone with the ARC type of gear - shoulder pauldron, DC-17 firearms and _kama_ - and with blue markings stepped forward, sizing him with his black visor with slight contempt. He wasn't really from the Advanced Reckon bunch though, his designation didn't show in the list.

"With all due respect, General, how did you get this kit?"

"And how did you get yours?" Dec snapped, all edge and defenses out, possibly one of Bralor's traits.

Jusik waved away an insect that flew a little too close to his nose but it would come back right after. He put his _buy'ce_ back on and selected the squad's channel.

"Regroup."

"Having trouble there, sir?"

"No, but it's getting dark and we're done out here." Jusik switched to his speaker. "How many can fit in your ship?"

The command deck felt cramped for the largest room in the vessel. Six and Cod sat at the commands, their bulky armor taking up a little less space between him and Dec and the three other troopers. Jusik waited for everyone to get inside, the hatch closed and he removed his helmet again. The blue-marked clone did as well, revealing bleach blond crew-cut hair and a severe expression.

"We seem to have a diplomatic problem," he started.

"Like hell we do," the clone replied dryly. "I'm still waiting to know why you are wearing the uniform of an enemy. Is it meant as some sick joke?"

The two Jedi stood by, watching the confrontation. Vevut said nothing and waited.

Jusik wavered between rationalizing and actually telling a joke - either one would be a lie: he couldn't say in front of the Jedi that he'd gone native with Mandalorians, not yet.

"We'll get to that when I'm done briefing you, trooper."

"_Captain_."

He frowned at him and turned to the others. "This planet is inhabited with a civilization that lives underground and our mission to take the shields down is compromising their security."

"But no life signs were detected on our way in," said the Padawan.

Skywalker smirked. "That's because of the solar radiation, Snips. Use your awareness of the living."

"So on whose side are they?" asked the clone.

"Their own. Attempts to negotiate have failed and--" He stopped before mentioning the details of Vevut's mishaps. "The leaders won't speak to a male, let alone a simple soldier."

They all turned to the young Togruta. She braced her shoulders in apprehension.

"Looks like I'm up for it then."

Jusik continued. "They have firepower with unlimited resources. If they aren't convinced that we'll spare them once the shields are down, the Seps will look a lot scarier all of the sudden."

"So let me get this straight," said Skywalker. "We take the shields down, they go to the Separatists. We don't take them down, the Separatists come to them. _And _continue gathering more resources. Great."

"Are you suggesting a third option, General?"

Jusik looked at the Padawan. "How good are your acting skills?"

"Pretty good with a lightsaber," she smiled sadly. "But I'll try my best."

"Good attitude. Now," he looked over at clone in blue armor. "We haven't been properly introduced."

"CC-7567, Rex, sir. Torrent Company."

"Captain." He took a breath and set his attention on him, aware of his curious Jedi colleagues. "I respect your disregard towards Mandalorian culture, it is founded and completely legit. However, my men don't share the same view and this armor was a gift from a good friend. I wear it to honor their beliefs but we fight under the same flag."

Rex nodded sharply.

"Understood, sir. Of course."

He knew about the rumors of Mandalorians joining CIS forces in the Bornalex sector but did not expect the big outrage it would create among the ranks. All clones flash-learned the _Dha Werda Verda_, including those that were not specifically trained by a _Cuy'val Dar_; their allegiance to the Republic outweighed their sense for _mando _heritage. Jusik could only imagine their indignity.

Dec came up to them with a holo-projector in his palm. The three-dimensional diagram of a burrow-like maze came to life in front of them.

"I took care to record as much as I could of Gasarrian territory," he said, then pointed a black gloved finger to a sinuous set of tunnels. "These are the access points to the Sep bunkers. They're not finished yet but--"

"Why go underground?" interrupted Skywalker, looking skeptically at Dec. As if he had never worked with commandos before.

"The surface is heavily guarded, General. Turrets, SBD's, Droideka's, the whole shebang."

He shrugged. "Sounds like my type of engagement."

The holo suddenly faded out as Dec clipped the device to his belt and sighed audibly. "Covert operations. We're not supposed to be here, and especially not you."

Skywalker's scarred eye twitched slightly in annoyance.

"We can't attack in broad daylight," Jusik said, putting off the tension. "Because you aren't equipped to withstand the solar ray bombardment, for starters."

"And don't even think of engaging the locals," added Six, sitting casually in the pilot's seat. "We sort of _disrupted_ their peace when walking out of their cages."

"Yeah, about that…" Dec let his shoulders drop. "We popped two of their guards. Terekalu and Pasikalu. You might want to… apologize for us when you get there."

Within their helmets they could freely crack any witty comments they wished, Jusik kept a straight face on their behalf.

"Do they ever come out?" asked the Padawan.

"No," Dec said shaking his head. "There's nothing out there for them to do anyway."

"They also hate strangers," pointed out Splat. "They kept us alive because we're like droids to them."

"They wanted to cut us in pieces…" added Cod.

"…see how _identical_ we actually are," finished Six.

Mumbling old rants was their way to say they were grumpy. Jusik had seen other squads behave in similar ways when their plans were falling apart and the win was taken from them by a Jedi. They were trained to be self-sufficient which came out as arrogance in the eyes of outsiders, in other words the people other than commandos and their training sergeants.

"General Jusik," earnestly called Tano. "Why won't the Gasarrians speak with a male figure?"

"You should ask Vevut, they were the ones stuck here for two weeks. I only arrived today responding to Sergeant Bralor's request."

"But--" she looked confusedly at the squad. "I'm asking your opinion as a Jedi."

He looked back at the Togruta: she was small but motivated and eager to learn, just as he was at her age. Somehow he wasn't expecting to be given any credit by a Padawan.

"Today is probably not the right day to play the Jedi card."

Skywalker let his arms drop to his sides and gave him a weird look. He ignored it and turned to Dec.

"Take General Skywalker and the captain to the extraction point, make him work his magic. _Quietly_."

"General," Tano hesitated, "I'm really not confident about doing this by myself…"

"Don't worry, _ad'ika_. I have a plan."

*

Dec nodded and lead their guests out of the transport to walk down the canyon with Six, Cod and Splat in a defensive formation. Gasarro had very flat plateaus on top of which everything could be seen from miles away with weak binoculars. They used no flashlights to direct themselves, relying solely on night vision mode. Too bad for Skywalker who had to walk in the dark but he was a Jedi, he'd get over it.

"I can't believe we're doing this again," Six complained in the private channel.

"And I can't believe you're still forgetting that your wishes are coming true," Dec replied. "A Jedi is going to blow up the bunker with a nod, you _di'kut_."

"This should be _our _job. Get someone like Skywalker in the picture and _he_ gets the honors when this whole _osik_ blows over."

"Oh," Cod joined in. "Because you think Jusik would let us take the win?"

"The kid understands us," Six replied. "He's wearing _beskar'gam_ for _shab_'s sake."

"I think you should lay off the swearing," sighed Splat.

"He's going through a phase," Cod said. "In a year's time he'll be happily flapping his robes in the wind just like Obi-Whatever-Bi."

"Kenobi," Six corrected. "And no, Cod. You don't go full-blown _mando_ because your lightsaber ran out of _shabla _batteries. Did you see his face when the Padawan asked for his Jedi opinion?"

"Good point."

"I don't mind the swearing," Dec mused. "But this conversation is borderline blasphemous--"

"So did you really spend two weeks here?" Skywalker asked, oblivious of their private chatter.

"--even though you respect your commander, you should show the same respect to other ranking officers--"

"Or was Jusik exaggerating?"

"--whether they work in your command group or not. What bothers me the most--"

"I think they did spend two weeks here," replied Rex.

"--Six, is that you assume a lot about General Skywalker. He's certainly smart enough to know this is not _his_ mission--"

"…They spent them shining their Deece and reciting Mandalorian tales."

Dec abruptly stopped in his trail and Splat bumped into his back. He turned to Rex, hand slightly away from his side-arm.

"Say that again to my face," he hissed. "_Brother_."

The squad instinctively circled around Rex and Skywalker. What looked conspicuous in that picture was the lack of aimed weapons.

"Don't _brother_ me, Mando boy."

Skywalker interposed himself between them. "Hey, easy on the name-calling - whatever you're talking about. We have a _mission_ here!"

Six chuckled in the comlink. "I told you so."

*

"Why do I feel like this isn't gonna work?"

Jusik finished adjusting one of his own leg holsters to Tano's belt, lifted the hood of her cloak over her horned head and stepped back to inspect his work. She looked menacing. A small, cute-looking, heavily armed and menacing young Togruta.

"Well I certainly wouldn't pick you up in a fight," commented a clone trooper.

"How _could _I fight carrying all this stuff?" She shifted the ammo bandolier from her shoulder. The oversized DC-15 rifle slung across her back nearly made her lose balance.

"You won't have to," Jusik replied. "Remember: you're a Republic emissary with a small army at your command. Gasarrian leaders will listen to what you have to say."

She gave him an insecure look. "Let's hope they buy it."

They proceeded outside and Jusik retreated within the privacy of his helmet for a moment. He heard Vevut's chatter in low volume with Dec's visor cam feed in a corner of his HUD, all shades of green from night vision mode. The Sep compound was still a good length away from them. He climbed up the last hill that reached the plateau, closely followed by Tano and the two troopers.

"For what reason did you send my master away with Rex?"

He looked at her briefly and resumed walking. "I had no idea he was a Jedi Master."

"Technically he isn't." She paused thoughtfully. "But I was assigned to become his apprentice, so I call him master."

"_That_'s the reason why he's not here."

"Oh. Well sometimes I call him _SkyGuy_…"

"What?…" He saw her embarrassed face under the hood, but of course she didn't know he could see that. "Sounds like I made the right call."

"What is _that_ supposed to mean?" she asked defensively.

The thought nagged at him and he didn't know whether it would affect her judgment of him or not if he told her. Why did he care anyway? Odds were that they'd never meet again when this was all over.

"You have feelings for him, Padawan."

She scoffed in protest. "And what did _you_ call me earlier? Wasn't that a mark of attachment as well?"

He smiled at her, a pointless gesture since she couldn't see his face.

"Don't be silly," he laughed. "We barely know each other."

He thought he heard the clones chuckle in his back, or was it their footsteps. Jusik cleared his throat and decided to change the topic.

"How's the kit? Not too heavy?"

"I may be short but I can hold my own, General."

He caught himself wincing slightly at the rank. "Very well, _ma'am_."

She rolled her eyes in exasperation. "You really are some kind of special for a Jedi."

"Am I famous at the Temple yet?"

"Hm, I wouldn't know… But the troops sure talk a lot. My mas--… Anakin actually thinks it's a courageous move. Unlike Rex though. I don't really understand the Mandalorian aspect in the clones."

"Long story short, the special operation companies were trained by former Mandalorian warriors. Sergeant Rav Bralor is one of them, she gave Vevut part of her rough personality."

"_She_? A female Mandalorian?"

"I know," he nodded. "I was trying to get _her_ to help us but I found you instead. How is your confidence now?"

"Never lower. Does the armor really help?"

He turned the question over a few times, cautious not to reveal too much of his feelings.

"It depends on the purpose you use it for."

"Again, I was asking for your Jedi insights." She smiled to him.

He intentionally marked a pause. "What kind of answer do you want to hear?"

She shrugged. "You don't talk much about the Force or your powers and abilities. I'm a Padawan, remember? I'm trying to learn."

"Ah." He suddenly felt for his remaining DC-17 in his left leg holster to make sure it was there. "Well I'm no Master. I guess you're smart enough to pick up lessons without being lectured."

"So… no Force class?"

He took a breath and stared at the dark horizon.

"Nope."


	3. Chapter 3

Dec pulled the camouflage net off the armored vehicle, an old Warcrawler scavenged from a junk yard on Ord Mantell. They had parked it a few minutes of walk away from the canyon, its bulky chassis sticking out of the landscape like a fort. Six helped him fold the net while Splat manned the controls.

"Not exactly GAR-issued," mused Rex with a hint of admiration.

"Our old Sergeant pulled a few strings to let us keep it," said Cod, kicking one of the four large wheels with the tip of his boot.

"Impressive," Skywalker nodded. "How did you bring it here?"

Six, Cod and Dec looked each other. "External help," Dec answered as casually as he could.

Rex chuckled through his transmitter and climbed in through the small hatch hole. "Smells like aiwha jerky…"

Dec waited for Skywalker to get in and closed the door before manning the rear custom laser turret. The roof was open near the back of the tank so they could quickly swap positions in case of casualties.

"I still got some left for you," replied Splat, handing over a flimsi container with leftover dried meat.

They reached their destination, the hole in the ground where they had stopped digging under Gasarrian watch, where they escaped that morning.

"Do we have visual?" Dec called to his squad mates.

"Affirmative," yelled Six over the sound of the roaring engines. "No signs of booby traps, Sarge."

"It is still a hole," added Cod. "A hole in the freaking desert. Nothing grows here."

"Shut up, Cod."

"Any sign of the natives?" continued Dec.

"They're probably busy with Jusik and the orange kid," Cod said.

The Crawler ran past the crater and Dec directed his scoped turret towards it. His scanners picked up nothing in the infrared filter. Switching back to night vision the tones of green against black shapes told very little difference between gaps and the shadows projected by the rocks. It was too far away for his headlights to brighten it up.

"Okay, let's keep moving."

"Shouldn't we be going down there?" That was Skywalker.

"It could be booby-trapped, General."

"Or ambushed," added Six. "We're gonna get closer to the power plant."

The first line of defense was two hundred meters away with patrolling droids. Then came a barricade with automated turrets. And finally the bunker itself with Super Battle Droids and Droidekas ready to be deployed as soon as the first patrols signaled the alarm. It was standard procedure security for all Separatist structures whether the environment was hostile or not. They killed on sight and unprovoked.

"What's the plan?" asked the General.

"We try a stealth approach," Dec replied, speaking louder than he wished. "This is plan B if the discussions don't work, we'll have to get in there through the front door."

"And what about the other generators?" inquired Rex. "You went underground?"

There was a big bump that made everyone knock their heads against something hard. Except Dec since he was on the roof.

"Nah," said Splat, sounding amused by his own driving. "We just blasted those places."

"This is the main plant," explained Six. "We didn't get the correct schematics..."

Splat turned his blue T-visor towards them. "Strike two for GAR intelligence!"

"So you asked for Gasarrian support," thoughtfully said Skywalker. "And for how long were you captured?"

There was a silence. None of them wanted to think about that part.

"About a week," said Cod.

"Five days," corrected Six. "Our comms were disabled."

Splat stopped the vehicle. Dec switched to his binocular view and zoomed towards the horizon to see the plant with his stream of blue light shooting straight to the sky, creating the planet-wide energy field. No signaling lights marked their perimeter and he could only guess the movement of marching patrols. The Crawler was too loud to go any further and unnoticed.

"Why didn't you get a hovercraft," asked Rex, following Six and Cod to the ground. "Faster, more comfortable, more reliable, _silent_…"

Skywalker cracked his neck and jumped out. "I kind of miss my _pod_-- starfighter."

"Sentimental value," Splat said, tapping the steering wheel with his fingers. "I like fixing this piece of crap when I'm not blowing stuff up."

Six hissed with irritation. "It's a convenience, discarded metal."

"You have no soul."

He rested his precision specialized Deece across his shoulder. "Then I don't need to be afraid of dying."

"I'll still pray for you."

Dec slapped the hatch door to cut the conversation short. "Get the net out, we're setting camp."

"For the night?" asked Cod, sounding concerned. "Surely the negotiations won't last that long."

"You're probably right but let's assume you're not. Come on, shift it."

Rex went over to help the squad with the net, seemingly okay with the passed issues. It was nice to see everybody getting along... The squad wanted to believe that it was the magic operating around the Crawler.

"General, can you sense any natives around here? I want to know if I'll need to check my targets."

The Jedi shut his eyes for a few seconds and slowly shook his head. "We seemed to have passed their territory a few minutes ago to the south. Are you sure they're the real natives to this planet and not a colony?"

"The thought crossed my mind. What does that change?"

"They may have contact with their mother world or outside allies in case we screw this up for them."

"Ah. Insightful." Dec cleared his throat as he realized he was talking to a Jedi. Those people were meant to be smart. Suddenly Jusik didn't seem all that special any longer. "Let's hope Bardan can shed some light on the subject."

"I hope they're doing alright…"

Dec looked over to his squad and Rex who had taken position around the vehicle, talking in muffled voices about mechanics and other geeky things he didn't pay attention to. Splat came out of the hatch with his stash of jerky, Deece hanging loosely from its makeshift sling.

"Looks like we got more of these in the trunk," he said.

"Outstanding," Six flatly commented. "Please finish it up once and for all."

"Not only do you lack a soul," replied Splat, "but also an appetite. Six, what makes you any different from a droid?"

"My boot up y--"

"Hey, is this normal?" Cod pointed his rifle at a blinking light towards the south-east.

Dec raised his own scope to only see a beacon in his view screen. It was a regular single-blinking signal.

"Subject is half a click away," he measured. "General?"

"Hm," he folded his arms across his chest. "Seems like a local."

Six had his Deece up. "Shall we engage, sir?"

Skywalker motioned for him to lower his weapon. "I'll deal with him, you folks stay back here."

"With all due respect, sir," Dec objected, "we'd rather not move. Could be a trap."

"What if they're afraid to come closer but need our help?"

"That's a valid speculation but until that's confirmed I'll advise you to stay put."

"It's your call, Sergeant. But if my Padawan is in danger I won't be taking heed of that…"

He was probably jesting. Dec let his shoulders drop and gestured to Cod and Six to regroup on the camp.

"Alright, General. You may attempt to communicate via waving and Jedi-mind-tricking. But we're about done being trapped and captured." He activated his comms to contact Jusik. "Vevut to Jusik, come in General."

There was a silence. Dec waited a minute. Then two.

"Something's not right."

*

The city was invisible on the surface, it spread underground, miles deep and across, but it had to have an exit point somewhere on top. Jusik's data-gatherer continued mapping the area as they went, wishing he had a speeder bike but he walked as briskly as he could despite being somewhat sleep-deprived. Instinctively they went in the direction of where he had found Vevut that day.

"What if they locked themselves in?" asked one of the troopers. "We could be wasting our time."

"We're getting closer," the Padawan replied. "I can sense it."

The Force was handy for this sort of thing. He took her word for it and refrained from scanning the area himself. They reached a small hill, more like a mound and once at the top Jusik felt the ground to be hollow under his footsteps.

"What is that, a door?" he asked.

The little girl's voice was loud and startling in the silence of the night. "Hello!?"

"I predict an ambush," said the other trooper. "Typical scenario…"

"So, what," said his friend, "you're a Jedi now?"

There was a lightsaber shriek and a green blaze of light around them. Jusik checked for his own, in the back of his belt. The Padawan had the same color, then. He carelessly thought about the possibility that someone might have snatched it from him.

"This should do the work," she said, holding the luminous blade over her cloaked head. And then she repeated, even louder: "Helloooooo!!!?"

"If they had surveillance on the surface I think we would have seen it," he remarked.

The ground started to shake under their feet. Jusik and everyone stepped back as a gap formed and sand fell in. Something came out, it looked like a big rock with a life of its own. A big rock with a huge canon mounted on it.

The clones shouted for them to take cover. But cover behind what? Jusik jumped away from the big sand-colored muzzle that started to melodiously shoot green bolts at them, creating numerous craters in the dry earth. Ahsoka leapt away with her beam of emerald light and her portable armory. Somehow the turret had taken one of the clones in its target locking system and decided to destroy him first, with a tempo a little faster than a shot per second. Jusik rolled over just soon enough to avoid one lost bolt and found himself right behind the big shooting machine. His lightsaber was in hand without a moment of thought then a green blade slashed through the rocky mass reduced into molten goo.

"Good job, Commander," said the trooper that had tried to shoot the turret down.

Jusik looked at his unlit weapon just as Ahsoka appeared in front of him.

"Oh."

"This doesn't look like Separatist guns to me," she said, staring at the hilt in his hand. "Why didn't you destroy it?"

Was he too slow? Did he try to think of another way? What was he waiting for?

"Honor to the ladies," he replied, smirking under his helmet.

The troopers inspected the gap and unrolled a rappel line. Ahsoka jumped down, landing like a swift feline and without a sound. Jusik followed consciously calling to the Force to slow his fall on the last meter. They were met with musical instruments up their faces, held by small mantis-like creatures with gray and brown feathery manes.

"Take your helmets off and drop your weapons," they ordered, in clear Basic. They had very humanoid mouths between their mandibles.

Jusik complied and looked around at the troopers that reluctantly obeyed, dropping their guns to the floor as well.

Ahsoka brought her hood down and stood as upright as she could. "I am Ahsoka Tano, representing the Galactic Republic on behalf of the four clone commandos you captured."

The four Gasarrians were joined by another flock of guards, all male, and talked to each other in their native tongue. It sounded like a low rumble.

"You may stay," said the same guard while another came over to take Ahsoka's weapons and her lightsaber. Jusik handed his rifle and blaster over but they wearily eyed his gauntlets. He had to part from them as well. Making no fuss, he kept silent about his other weapon.

They entered a cavernous space that could have been an ancient underground lake arranged in a very modern-looking primal city with roads, bubble-shaped buildings and dim lights reflecting themselves on the many smooth and pearly surfaces of the housings. Jusik guessed organic materials and fungi-derivates that also produced fluorescence. The roof of the cave was surprisingly high.

Many males patrolled the sand-paved roads, bouncing on their shin legs, diligently following a taller, more colorful Gasarrian leaders that could only be female. They arrived at one big transparent pile of bubbles in which many Gasarrians could be seen, sleeping, making food, cleaning or simply walking around. A tall female greeted them outside. Her mane was of bright red and orange feathers and her large black almond-shaped eyes squinted at them.

"I am Eyasakan. Leader of this colony for hundreds of cycles. Your soldiers have brought unrest to my people, killing two of our soon-reproducing males. The crimes will be balanced."

"Wait!"

But it was too late for Ahsoka to object; Jusik barely had the time to look around that their two troopers dropped limp to the ground. A dark Gasarrian extracted small blood-stained blades from their necks and ran off. The young Padawan fell to her knees to cup one of the clones' face between her hands as the Force progressively absorbed their life signs.

"They died a painless death," continued the leader. "I suppose you're here to talk. You may come in."

She disappeared inside her glass home. Ahsoka was still in shock over the loss of their soldiers, and even if he felt the same Jusik grabbed her arm to get her on her feet. He realized how skinny she was, and if he squeezed any harder she'd bruise or break a bone.

"Save it for later, you need to do your job."

"This isn't starting well."

He hoped the cycle of revenge would stop there. If "balance" meant a life for a life then the logic was simple, the Padawan could work with that.

They followed Eyasakan into a larger sphere of the house where she was sitting with her legs folded under her, as if she was kneeling. Two guards joined them inside.

"We've come to request your blessing in the destruction of the Separatist energy field around your world," Ahsoka flatly said, like she had rehearsed it. "We do not seek to occupy it, just to keep our enemies from growing stronger."

The Gasarrian leader flailed her fire-like mane and blinked a few times.

"My people won't align to a side in your conflicts. We took shelter on this planet to escape from our own destructive cousins, we are peaceful and wish to remain that way."

"Your defenses are quite impressive for _peaceful_ people," the Padawan replied.

"We have seen our share of war," Eyasakan softly said. "That is why we strive to keep outsiders away, so the shields work in our advantage. Your presence alone is disruptive."

So that explained the lack of refreshments and comfortable seats. Ahsoka looked at Jusik in a silent hesitating moment. Eyasakan suddenly hissed loudly.

"What is he?"

"What..?" Ahsoka seemed to lose her composure. "He is… our military commander."

"Why lend such high responsibilities to a male?"

"Well, because…" She dropped her shoulders in defeat. "Because my people doesn't know any better. That's why we come to you for your aid."

Jusik smiled trying to look dumb.

"I will gather the council of elders to discuss a solution."

"Thank you," Ahsoka said and bowed her head.

"Meanwhile, I will ask you not to leave the premises."

Eyasakan bounced out of the room and two guards closed behind her, making sure they wouldn't follow her outside. The two troopers were still laying on the dirt path, slowly filling a puddle of dark red blood around their heads.

"We should at least dispose of the bodies," Ahsoka said half-voiced.

No response from the guards, maybe they didn't understand Basic. Bardan checked his chrono: two hours had passed since they separated from Vevut. There was a bleep. The young Togruta slowly turned her eyes to him in a silent question. Jusik peered into his helmet to see a little blinking flash from his comms.

"It's the squad," he murmured, yet guessing the guards could hear what he said anyway. "Something came up."

"I sense it too," she said.

*

"Leave the conspicuous noise machine here," said Skywalker, "I'll deal with this."

He hopped off the Crawler and headed towards the small local that had stopped waving his little flare around. Splat brutally smashed the brakes and Rex followed his friend. Dec cursed between his teeth and grabbed the Captain's _kama_ before he could get out the hatch.

"What the--"

He pulled hard and Rex got thrown back in his seat thanks to Six and Cod. Dec jumped out to the ground and raised his rifle, cautiously pacing closer.

"Hey," he called out. "_Hey_! Stop! ...General Skywalker, I'm warning you."

The man finally turned around, he was about twenty meters away from the Gasarrian. That creepy little thing stood motionless with his arms to his side, Dec recognized the ruse since his own men had fallen for it once.

"Warning me, Sergeant?"

"Vevut," Dec called on his comms, "watch your sectors but do not engage."

"Let me do my job, soldier."

Dec adjusted his aim and felt a pinch in his chest. It really wasn't something he'd want to write in a report.

"We need to let Jusik finish the diplomacy," he tried to explain. "Please get back in the vehicle, General."

"I just want to talk," Skywalker insisted, then raised his open palm to him. "Stay there or you will be in deep trouble."

"This is _my_ mission, General. I won't let anything or anyone screw it up by getting us all killed."

He did not intend to shoot the Jedi, but he was dealing with his brothers' lives and if he couldn't make a ranking officer come to his senses then he had to use some better persuasion. They'd been captured once, this time they'd die. It didn't take rocket science to come up with those odds.

"How do you know that? He's all alone."

The low rumbling sound of underground mechanisms could be heard around them.

"Don't tell me you couldn't sense this..."

Four turrets deployed around the lone Gasarrian who was later joined by more of his kind, all sporting body armor and snail-guns. Then Skywalker did a stupid thing.

"General, no!"

His lightsaber blazed up in a blinding blue shaft which provoked a massive response from the locals. Dec leapt across the few paces separating him from Skywalker and threw his weight forward, shoving the General out of four deadly green bolts, knocking the Jedi's weapon out of his hands and the unarmed Gasarrian picked it up.

"We have your friends," he said with a smug tone. "Their attempts for peace are vain and you'll be happy to live long enough to witness their execution."

Dec lifted himself from a very irritated Skywalker to see that Battle Droids had joined the show.

"I knew we'd meet again, droid lover."

"Sarge," Splat called in the comm. "Should we use our gun to graze them?"

"Stand down, squad," Dec sighed. "Don't give them a reason to shoot the Crawler."

He heard them stepping out and walking with their hands up in surrender.

"Rav is so going to kick your ass," Cod remarked.

Dec cleared his throat as he reluctantly dropped his Deece. "Shut up, Cod."


	4. Chapter 4

Bardan counted them entering the large bubble-shaped room, helmets on as if the Gasarrians were done caring, and unshackled. When all of them, Rex and Skywalker included got in, Eyasakan stood in the opening with her multi-jointed fingers meshed against her chest. It was hard not to expect her to lunge for one of their heads.

"My lieutenants have informed me of your misgivings on the surface. You have deceived us one last time, outsiders. You shall remain here until we decide what to do with you."

Guards dragged something heavy into the cell. Bardan saw with revulsion that were going to be locked in with the bodies of the fallen troopers.

"You have paid for your crimes," continued the leader, "and we have no more business with your kind."

"Then why don't you let us complete our mission," Dec spat out. Even through his helmet the scorn in his voice was obvious. "We were lured into a _trap_. That's one detail your men forgot to report."

"This a bad mistake," Skywalker added. "You'll regret crossing with the Republic."

Ahsoka, still struggling to maintain her calm, stood up to take over. "Please, I beg of you. We never intended for those incidents to happen..."

"Incidents?" retorted Dec. "You don't _incidentally _get a couple of Battle Droids or ten to setup an ambush."

"Enough!" Eyasakan hissed. "These accusations do not act in your favor. I will discuss this with the elders."

As she left, the "door" of the cell seemed to morph back into place and leave no mark or trace of an opening into the translucent material. One of the commandos walked up to the wall and knocked on the durasteel-solid surface before closing his fist and extending the vibroblade from his gauntlet. It seemed _programmed_ not to break under special circumstances.

Bardan turned around: there were no corners in the ten square meter wide cell. It was placed in a remote part of the city where very little Gasarrian citizens could see them if they ever walked by. He sat down on the dirt floor, letting a long, drawn-out sigh. The prospects of a nap were very tempting right then.

"I'd like to try my lightsaber into this," said Skywalker.

"No need," Bardan said, eyes shut to relax his mind. "Smart, _alien_ technology."

"How do you know it wouldn't work? Besides, it's not like we _can_ try now."

Actually he could, but Bardan got the intuition that breaking out wasn't the greatest option they had so far. They weren't dead yet, and Eyasakan seemed to have missed a few facts concerning some of her people. They had their helmets, that meant communications were allowed and Battle Droids were involved somehow. Bardan half-expected to see a Separatist leader popping out any minute.

"We're being used as bait."

"Bait for what?" asked Ahsoka, looking more depressed than ever.

"...our reinforcements," Skywalker answered, agreeing with the general idea. "They're allied with the Seps and are trying to get a ransom for our lives."

Captain Rex knelt down to inspect the corpses of the dead troopers, their skin gone pale already.

"I don't need more proof than this, General. I suggest we call for orbital strikes. Hit wear the shields are weak."

"And we should still try to get out of here. Good idea, Rex." Skywalker took his comlink and received nothing but fuzz and crackles. "How expected."

Bardan yawned and covered his mouth with his gloved hand. Still that didn't keep everyone from noticing the sign of weakness, or boredom. If he had kept his helmet on he would have been able to doze off without anyone being the wiser.

"Carry on," he muttered.

"Any suggestions?" snarled Skywalker, folding his arms across his breastplate. "I suppose the negotiations didn't pan out."

Bardan expired through his nostrils, leaning his head against the wall. The laser-proof glass was almost warm, he noted.

"We did the best we could, Master." Ahsoka looked down to her boots.

Skywalker laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure _you_ did, Snips."

The young Togruta turned her large white-striped lekku's around, her blue eyes on Bardan for a brief moment, as if seeking his opinion. Wasn't one Jedi's blessing enough? He childishly shrugged at her, and Ahsoka bit her lips, containing a smile.

"So," Skywalker continued, frowning at the silent exchange, "are we gonna wait here for the executioners?"

Dec turned to his squad, then they sat down around the cell in a chorused motion. Their sergeant stayed up to face Skywalker as his brothers seemed to relax and take their own naps.

"Like what was suggested earlier, General," said Dec in a flat tone. "We'll wait for the reinforcements. Even if that means war."

Mirroring the clones, Ahsoka took a seat as well wrapping her cloak around herself, and at a respectful distance from Bardan and her master.

"Doing anything else would mean war on _us_," added another clone, "and I'm a pacifist."

Rex pulled his helmet off and rolled his eyes in helplessness. "That's the biggest pile of crap I've heard coming out of someone's transmitter. You eat too much of that stale jerky." Rex turned to Bardan. "You should do something about the contraband this squad is using, and also that Warcrawler--"

"I know about the Warcrawler," Bardan said, lifting his sleepy eyes from the floor. "Did you keep it in one piece?"

Dec shook his head, hands on his hips. "We didn't get the time to secure it... Sorry, General. Splat was becoming fond of it, too."

Bardan saw movement outside the bubble-cell, the uneven surface rendering deformed shapes of marching Gasarrians. The leader's orange plume was Eyasakan's, followed by others behind her. A male guard used some kind of remote device and the glass turned liquid, morphing fluidly into a large opening. Eyasakan entered followed by her colleagues and Bardan detected no sympathy in their large black eyes.

"We have decided to end your disruption now. If you must know, some of us thought about using you as prisoners of war. But we are not at war. Our world must not be affected by you, whether you think it to be good or bad."

She stepped aside and the guards got them all outside. There were too many for Bardan to count but all he regretted was not taking the few minutes of respite while he had the chance. His instincts told him to lay low and wait for the right moment. They all looked like they were thinking the same.

"Where are you taking us?" Ahsoka asked, almost imploring.

Eyasakan eyed her scornfully, like she was disappointed. "To the surface, the first rays of sunshine will soon appear. There is no escape for you this time."

The guards had them remove their helmets. Bardan's stomach knotted as one small male took his bucket from his hands. The squad looked very angry. _Not now_, he told himself, regulating his breath.

They climbed up a sinuous tunnel with stairs, the guards used curious phosphorescent lanterns that looked alive. Then they saw the sky which was going from navy blue to purple. There were no more insects in the air as it brushed his face. He could even tell the colors of the detail on Ahsoka's gloves.

Eyasakan and the other leaders climbed outside as well, and the guards had the clones line up one meter apart, execution-style.

"General..." Dec said between his clenched teeth.

Bardan counted the guards this time: there were five, one for each _target_ as they aimed their snail-guns towards Vevut plus Rex. They didn't have anyone to signal them to fire so he had no idea when was their last heartbeat. He sensed their fear, and his Jedi comrades were shutting their minds from the pain they were going to feel soon.

Another guard stood between him and Eyasakan.

Emptying his mind, he closed his eyes. In other circumstances he would have dozed off like he had wanted to for the past hour. Instead he _saw_ everything, more clearly than in his narrow two-hundred degree field of vision, more detailed than with an infrared scanner. The Gasarrians did not take a breath before shooting, he just knew when they'd press the triggers.

His hand went for the small of his back and threw the silver hilt which, in a fraction of a second blazed to life. The whirling blade created the necessary distraction for him to send a Force-push towards the sixth guard, disarming him. The executioners were down, heads or limbs severed from their bodies and the lightsaber hovered in the air flying back to him.

Bardan extended his right arm, pointing the green laser blade up to Eyasakan's neck. Ahsoka reacted quickly and picked up the nearby snail-gun.

"Have your people bring us our belongings," he told, slightly below his usual volume.

The leader didn't flinch. "I do not respond to threats. Not from a _male_."

Bardan rolled his eyes and addressed Ahsoka. "Tell her."

The Padawan looked dazzled as she uncertainly held the alien weapon. "Let us have our weapons back."

"And our helmets!" shouted a commando.

Eyasakan seemed to sigh and nodded at the remaining guard. "Granted. I should have seen the sham in your act, young Togruta. You are submissive and weak. You will never honor your people with great wisdom."

The words seemed to strike; Ahsoka blinked a few times but her trembling lower lip betrayed her feelings. Other Gasarrians came back carrying their blasters, lightsabers and helmets. Bardan had them piled up beside him and brought his attention back to Eyasakan.

"So," she said calmly, "you're the actual leader. I am unarmed and the sun will soon rise. Shall we come back inside and discuss in a proper manner?"

"No more stalling," Bardan said, feeling the air warming up. "I know you won't and can't help us against the Separatists. Whatever happens from now, the civilian casualties, collateral damage, whatever you want to call it... will be the consequence of your leadership."

"I feel that both you and I will have to pay for our mistakes," she said, tilting her head to one side. "It's the price we choose for great responsibility."

Bardan lowered his lightsaber and looked at the other females, then back at the main girl. "Some of us don't have that choice."

He picked up his helmet and equipped it, activating the climate regulation in his outfit. He took a deep, relieving breath through the filters and grabbed his blasters. His friends came over to do as well. The scanners picked up the Warcrawler's shape merely a hundred meter from where they were.

"Skywalker..." The Jedi turned around, and Bardan could almost see the sun in the horizon line. "Take your Padawan to the vehicle. _Now_."

They both broke into a jog with Rex covering their tracks. Bardan started to feel his eyelids growing heavy. With his lightsaber still ignited he motioned towards the rising sun.

"Eyasakan... In other conditions it would've been a pleasure knowing you and this world."

"I wouldn't say likewise."

"We have a mission to complete, and my men were trained to do that... at all costs."

She shielded her eyes with her hands. "I understand. Good luck, General."

The first sun rays swept across the barren lands of desert like the blast of an explosion, blinding and burning. His visor instantly darkened to preserve his retina but he still looked away. The corpses on the grounded began to fume and smoke rose from them. The tunnel from which they had crawled out of was now closed so it was just him and Vevut left on the surface. They started walking towards the crawler, showing up as a mound of rocks across the horizon.

Running was pointless: if the lethal rays had reached Skywalker and Ahsoka before they could get to shelter they were already dead and there was nothing they could do from where they were.

Thankfully there were no Jedi corpses on the ground when they reached the Warcrawler, and they found Rex standing outside with his blaster ready. The first thing Bardan had in mind was slumber. Just twenty minutes were all he asked for. He climbed through the hatch and a small hand caught his elbow. Being half-aware of his surroundings he imagined another _mando_ greeting him with the typical hand-clasp until he saw the pointy horns on Ahsoka's head. She sat opposite from him and even in the dim light of the small cabin the concern was visible on her face.

"Is it true what she said," Ahsoka asked as the squad entered one by one. "What would you have replied?"

He needed a moment to remember what made her restless. Ah, yes.

"I wouldn't take wisdom tips from a species so inflexible they had to seclude themselves underground," he spoke flatly.

She appeared to take a moment to process his words and he took the opportunity to throw his head back against the bulkhead in an obvious intention to snooze.

"Eyasakan didn't know you," added Skywalker. "Don't let people tell you what you should do or not, you're still a Padawan and you have to make your own lessons."

"I don't know, Master." The crawler's engines came to life with a roar. "What is wisdom if your actions inevitably get other people killed?"

Bardan parted his eyelids, unable to ignore the girl's voice despite the loud hum of the vehicle as they rode back to the canyon.. Skywalker leaned forward, resting on his knees.

"This is war, Ahsoka. Those who fall have chosen their fate, and so have we. It's our responsibility to deal with the guilt and keep fighting for the greater good." He risked a look in Bardan's direction and lowered his voice. "We'll be out of here soon, Master Yoda needs us for a report at the Temple tomorrow."

"What if General Jusik still needs our help?"

"It's not our priority, Snips..." His eyes unfocused as his mind trailed off. "I have... other business waiting on Coruscant."

The ride back to camp took approximately ten minutes. The canyon offered sufficient shade for the unarmored people to keep safe until they could proceed to their ship later on. Bardan hopped off the crawler and felt the weight of a hand on his shoulder. He met a blue-lit visor and guessed it was Dec.

"Thanks for saving our _shebs_ earlier, General."

He nodded his helmet. "Anyone else would have done the same."

"With all due respect," he sighed. "I think not."

Bardan followed his glare to find Skywalker and Ahsoka sharing a ration bar in the cave.

"General," added Dec, "we can hold our own from here. The two Jedi can head back to their ship and we finish this mission the old-fashioned way."

He recalled the situation at hand with the hundreds of Battle Droids and the enemy artillery waiting for them on the other side of the main Separatist base. At his top shape Bardan could take a few droids on his way in while the squad could sabotage the defense turrets. The advantage of taking two more Jedi with them outweighed the price of having to talk to them.

Skywalker was stretching the joints in his right hand, the one he kept in a black combat glove. Bardan realized it was a bionic limb. Accidents of that sort happened and he considered himself lucky so far. Ahsoka for her part was sitting pensively in a dark corner. He removed his helmet and took a deep breath.

"I heard you speaking about business on Coruscant. So... we're grateful that you came here to help and we'll understand if you wish to go."

He waited, apparently they hadn't made their minds up yet.

"Are you sure?" asked Skywalker.

Rex joined in. "General Skywalker, if we leave now we can be just in time for the rendez-vous with the fleet."

The tall Jedi nodded grimly and stood. "Very well then." He extended his arm to clasp hands. "Thank you for understanding, General Jusik."

His hand _was_ a prosthetic. Bardan felt the rigid and knotty articulations through the glove.

"Master, wait." It was Ahsoka, she got to her feet and gave them a disagreeing look. "Shouldn't we stay either way? Isn't this mission vital for the Republic?"

Skywalker scowled at her with enough impatience in his eyes to seem like an unloving parent. "The decision's been made. We're going home, Snips."

He reached for her shoulder but she pulled away a tad too sharply. She was more like a savage animal now than a simple Padawan. Bardan had to revise his opinion.

"Ahsoka," said Skywalker in a threatening tone. "Time to learn your place. They don't need us any longer."

She turned to Rex. "Captain, you told me that experience was the greatest teacher. Why can't I choose to learn from this one?"

"Well," replied the clone, "we don't always get to do everything we like."

The Jedi with a scar on his face showed signs of irritation; something was up. Bardan couldn't put a finger on it but he was ready to bet it was about that _business_ Skywalker was eager to get to.

"You're a piece of work, sometimes. You know that?"

Ahsoka seemed to calm down and took a seat on the edge of a rock, cupping her hands around her face. Bardan thoughtfully drummed his fingers on his helmet and turned to Skywalker and Rex.

"I'll watch over her."

"No," Skywalker replied, shaking his head in disapproval. "I'd get in serious trouble if my masters see me without her."

She was going to burst into a plead again, Bardan raised a hand to get her to stay down.

"It's either this or you skip your _other_ meeting."

Skywalker looked back at him with intimidating eyes. He was taller, stronger, and more stubborn than him. Luckily Bardan was confident in his acting skills. Eventually, Skywalker flinched an eyelid and nodded in surrender.

"Fine. But I want regular reports and... no risky plans."

Someone chuckled in their transmitter. "Risky is our word for _suicidal_, sir."

Skywalker ignored it and knelt down to look Ahsoka in the eyes. "Can I count on you to come back safe and sound?"

"We'll see," she shrugged with a little smile.

He left to head back to the vehicle with Rex. Two commandos joined them to drive them to their ship. Bardan let a breath out and ran a hand through his hair. Ahsoka stood in front of him with a shy smirk.

"I don't know what to say..."

He pinched his lips and watched the crawler trail off in the burning bright daylight.

"Don't thank me. You're stuck on a ball of fire with no armor and a band of deranged clones for only company."

The rest of the squad cheered with a weak _oya!_ as they were sitting around their makeshift camp. Ahsoka responded by laughing and Bardan swore he heard a child's voice. He thought about going to sleep at last, but this new complication to the mission shattered the false sense of security he had built around himself.

"Does this mean I have to call you _Master_?" Ahsoka said, no longer the scary little predator from earlier.

Why did he have to burden himself with someone to look after? Perhaps the alternative would have plagued him in a more permanent way. Either of them, Skywalker and Ahsoka, were happy now and the thought of actually tutoring someone had its appeal.

He smiled to her and headed to the back of the cave where it was darker. "Just call me Bardan."

Before he closed his eyes he saw her joining the squad in their improvised game on the floor. They gave her a water canteen and ration cubes. She looked so tiny in the middle of three men in bulky Katarn armor. At least her distress and worries had somehow melted away and Bardan finally allowed himself to drift off.


End file.
